


Just Another Girl

by MarshallFluff



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: 30 years of slow burn, Badass Johnny Lawrence, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Bobby is a good friend, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Johnny becomes a Good Dad, Johnny is Bad at Feelings Sometimes, Karate, M/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Movie References, Multi, Not as Stupid as He Pretends, Protective Miguel Diaz, Slow Burn, daniel is confused, johnny is a good friend, like very slow burn, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28714743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshallFluff/pseuds/MarshallFluff
Summary: Johnny Lawrence and Cass McCarthy have been friends since they were very young, but have been drifting apart since Johnny started dating Ali. Enter Daniel LaRusso, a new kid from Jersey who lives next door to Cass. The two quickly become friends and Cass gets pulled into the drama as Daniel starts to fall for Ali, Johnny is jealous and Bobby just wants to graduate without getting arrested.Jump 30 years and Cass is back with her cousin and his son, and takes up a job teaching in the high school. Johnny reconnects with the one person who has always known how to get him out of his head, and Robby starts spending more time with his godmother and therefore his dad.
Relationships: Amanda LaRusso & Johnny Lawrence, Amanda LaRusso/Daniel LaRusso, Bobby Brown & Johnny Lawrence, Bobby Brown & Original Female Character, Carmen Diaz (Cobra Kai)/Original Male Character(s), Daniel LaRusso & Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso & Original Female Character, Daniel LaRusso/Ali Mills, Johnny Lawrence & Ali Mills, Johnny Lawrence & Cobra Kai Students, Johnny Lawrence/Ali Mills, Johnny Lawrence/Original Female Character(s), Miguel Diaz & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Miguel Diaz & Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz & Robby Keene, Miguel Diaz (Cobra Kai) & Original Female Character(s), Robby Keene & Johnny Lawrence, Robby Keene & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	1. A Bet

Daniel followed Freddy over to where he was talking to a girl, about their own age, sitting next to the dirty, murky pool. 

“Daniel LaRusso, this is Cass McCarthy, number twenty-two,” Freddy introduced, “Cass, this is Daniel, he’s just moving into number twenty.”

“Nice to meet ye,” she greeted in a strange accent, shaking his hand with a friendly smile.

“Yeah, you too,” Daniel replied, relieved that he’d at least know two people his own age.

“So, what brings you out to the pool today, Cass?” Freddy asked her, leaning Daniel’s bike up against a railing.

“I bet Bobby he couldn’t jump the length of the pool,” Cass answered with a mischievous grin, “Loser buys dinner tonight.”

Freddy laughed, while Daniel grimace, imagining what it would be like to land in the filthy water. A young guy, maybe a year older than them with dirty blonde hair rand down the stairs to join them. He pulled off the hoodie he was wearing and threw it at Cass, walking back towards where an elderly woman sat in a fold out chair. 

“If I catch anything, I’m blaming you, Cass” the guy teased.

The trio watched in anticipation as Bobby sprinted towards the pool, jumping into the air at the last possible minute. He easily cleared the railing, he flew through the air, but quickly began falling and landed just more than halfway. 

“Hard luck, Bobby,” Cass called out, draping the hoodie over her shoulder as she got a towel ready for Bobby who effortlessly pulled himself out of the pool and straight onto his feet. 

“Feckin’ show-off,” Cass teased, throwing his towel at him. 

“That was some jump, Bobby!” Freddy complimented him. 

“Thanks Freddy,” Bobby greeted, smiling at Daniel, “Hiya, I’m Bobby Brown, I’d shake your hand, but I’d be worried you’d catch something from the water.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Daniel laughed, “I’m Daniel LaRusso, number twenty.”

“Bobby doesn’t live here,” Freddy told Daniel.

“He’s a rich boy from the Hills,” Cass gently teased him, “Sometimes he deigns to spend time with us common folk.”

“You coming to the beach party tonight?” Freddy asked them. 

“Nah, not really my scene,” she answered, “Bobby’ll probably show.” 

“Alright, if you change your mind you know where to find us,” Freddy replied, Cass and Bobby smiled and said goodbye, before they both headed up towards number twenty-two. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You mind if I have a quick shower?” Bobby asked, as Cass headed towards the kitchen.

“Go ahead!” she called back, as she turned the kettle on. 

As Bobby hopped into the shower, Cass went into her bedroom, grabbing a pair of her boardshorts and a t-shirt that was a bit too big for her, leaving them outside the bathroom door. She poured two mugs of tea, adding a drop of milk into both, and a sugar cube into Bobby’s. Riffling through the breadbin, she found a packet of Jaffa Cakes and some Chocolate Digestives, stuffing a packet into her hoodie pocket and another under one arm, she carried the tea over to the couch and TV, carefully setting down the mugs down on the table and throwing the biscuits on behind them.  
Bobby padded out of the shower, walking past her and towards the washing machine, while she picked out a video tape. She put into the VCR, set it to rewind and sat down on the couch, where she was soon joined by Bobby. 

“What are we watching?” Bobby asked, the pair of them not looking at the TV to avoid ruining the film despite having watched it several times. 

“Pirates of Penzance,” Cass answered, stretching out on the couch with her legs on Bobby’s lap.

“I’m a sucker for a good musical,” Bobby admitted, taking the hoodie from Cass’ shoulder and pulling it on, “Just, don’t tell the guys.”

“Never!” Cass agreed, a smile pulling at her lips, “Can you keep a secret?”

Bobby raised an unimpressed eyebrow and she snorted, realizing how stupid that question was given all the secrets he kept for her. 

“Johnny brought me to see my first musical in the cinema,” she told him with a gentle smile, snorting at his surprised expression.

“Maybe we should have invited him to see Footloose this summer,” Bobby suggested.

They looked at each other and dissolved into laughter, Johnny wouldn’t be caught dead going to a musical now. He was too worried that it would make him seem like a ‘pussy’. A key rattled in the door, signaling that Cullen, Cass’ older brother was home with their dogs. The front door opened, paws skidding on the wooden floor as they ran towards Bobby and Cass. Laoch, the large Irish Wolfhound leapt over the back of the couch landing on both Cass and Bobby, while Dagda, the German Shepherd ran around the front of the couch greeting them from there. 

“Hi Cullen,” Cass greeted her brother, giggling as Dagda nuzzled her face.

“Pup, Bobby,” Cullen greeted, his own Irish accent as strong as his sister’s. 

He came to join them, sitting in the armchair next to the couch and putting his feet upon the table. Dagda clambered up onto his lap, before lying down, while Laoch burrowed down behind Cass’ legs resting his chin on her thigh.

“Bobby’s buying dinner,” Cass informed him, as Bobby sheepishly smiled, wet hair half-covering his eyes.

“What was the best this time?” he asked, amused.

“That I couldn’t jump the pool length-ways,” Bobby admitted.

“Foolish boy,” Cullen teased, looking at the TV as the tape stopped rewinding, “Pirates?”

“Of course!” the teenagers chorused, Cullen nodded happy with the selection and let his body relax. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Bobby, party,” Cass reminded him, reaching for another slice of pizza as they came towards the end of Rocky.

“Shit!” Bobby exclaimed, jumping up and disturbing Laoch, who shifted so he was half lying on Cass, “Thanks Cass!”

“Get changed in my room and then you can head straight to the boys,” Cass suggested, watching as Apollo fell to the floor. 

Bobby smiled at her gratefully, disappearing into her room as Rocky Balboa threw his fist up in victory screaming, “Adrian!” Cullen was fast asleep in his armchair, Bobby had thrown a blanket over him and Dagda when they had put Rocky into the VCR. Dagda’s ears twitched slightly in his sleep, taking in the sounds around him. She changed from the video player to the TV, happily settling in for a few episodes of Rawhide. Bobby emerged a few minutes into the first episode and kissed Cass’ forehead before leaving for the beach.


	2. Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day back at high school after the summer, Johnny talks to Cass, Bobby knows things.

Cass burrowed her head in under her duvet as she heard her bedroom door open, followed by the sound of paws gently padding into the room. The weight of the bed shifted, as both dogs umped up onto her bed. Laoch immediately settled down against her legs, as was his way, while Dagda stuck his nose in under the covers, sniffing at her face, before joining her under the duvet and curling up against her torso. 

"You're both useless," she heard Cullen sigh in amusement. 

She could hear him walk into the room and stopping at the foot of her bed, shooing Laoch off the bed, who left with a huff. Suddenly, her duvet was torn off her exposing her to the cold, instinctively she curled up around Dagda, trying to conserve heat. Cass' eyes flew open when she felt someone grab both her ankles and pull, she tried grabbing onto the bed but couldn't get a grip, ending up on her bedroom floor. She had enough time to blink up at the ceiling, before Cullen started dragging her out of her bedroom. As he pulled her through the doorway, she quickly reached out with both hands, desperately clinging onto the frame as Cullen tugged at her legs. Laoch trotted over, sniffing at the back of her neck tickling her, and she let go. Cullen stopped dragging her when they reached the bathroom, opening the hot press and throwing a towel on her face. Cass snorted in amusement, taking the towel in one hand and finally getting to her feet and walking into the bathroom. 

She threw her head back and felt her muscles relax as the hot water cascaded down on her. The door opened slightly, she cracked one eye open to see a hand venture in, drop some of her clothes to the ground and leave, closing the door. 

"Thank you!" she called out to Cullen, pouring conditioner into her hands to quickly finish her shower. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cass stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of ripped jeans, a white tank top and one of Cullen's old leather jackets. She pulled her socks on as she made her way into the kitchen, where Cullen was cooking their breakfast, side-stepping the two dogs who were wolfing down their own breakfast. 

"How did you know what underwear and bra to pick?" she asked curiously, snatching some toast off of his plate as he flipped the sausages and black pudding.

"Picked the most comfortable looking ones and you have Gym today, so you need a supportive bra," Cullen answered, serving the breakfast on two plates, including two slices of toast each and half a slice of fried bread. 

"Some girl's goin' to be real lucky one day," she commented, smiling at Cullen when his gaze flickered up to hers, "Pity she'd have to put up with the rest of ye."

He snorted, taking a half-hearted swipe, which she easily dodged. 

"Need the car?" he asked, wrapping his sausages and black pudding up in his toast."

"Don't need it, but it would be appreciated," she answered, finishing off her last sausage. 

"Take it, I won't need it 'till late," he offered, throwing her the keys as she pulled on her boots, grabbed her bag and ran out the door. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yo, LaRusso!" Cass called, spotting him near the pool as she ran down the stairs, "Wanna lift?"

Daniel turned to a woman who must be his mother eagerly, as Cass jogged towards them. 

"Can I go with Cass, Ma?" he asked eagerly, brown eyes wide. 

Mrs. LaRusso looked down from her son to this new friend, fighting back a smile that he was beginning to settle in. 

"Cass McCarthy, pleasure to meet you, Mrs. LaRusso," Cass introduced herself, "I live in number twenty-two with my brother, if you ever need anything feel free to call into us."

"Thank you, it's lovely to meet you too, Cass," Mrs. LaRusso greeted with a gentle smile, "It would certainly free up time for me if you two went with each other. Good luck on your first day, Daniel!"

"Yes!" Daniel cheered, "Thanks Ma!"

He quickly kissed her on the cheek, before following Cass to her brother's pick-up truck. She threw her bag into the bed of the truck, before jumping up into the driver's seat, while Daniel brought his bag into the cab with him. 

"Thanks for the lift," Daniel said gratefully as Cass reversed out of the space.

"No bother! We're both heading to the same place anyway," Cass shrugged, before sending him a playful wink, "Figured I should borrow my brother's truck instead of riding my bike in, at least 'till ye trust me enough to sit on the back of my bike."

His eyes widened at the revelation that Cass had a motorbike.

"Probably a good choice," he agreed, "Don't think my Ma would've let me go with you if you turned up on a bike."

Cass laughed, as did Daniel at the thought of how that could have turned out, mothers and motorbikes often didn't end well. Reaching into the glovebox, Cass pulled out the first tape she got her hands on and put it into the radio. Queen music immediately blared through the speakers, causing Daniel to grin, agreeing with her taste in music. 

"So, what happened to your face?" she asked eventually, glancing at the bruise on his face.

"Got them at the beach," he admitted, "Bobby turned up with some guys, one of them was being a real jerk to a girl, so I tried stepping in."

He looked at her in surprise when she let out a long tired sigh. 

"Blonde hair, tall, blue eyes, red leather jacket?" she asked him, sounding fed-up .

"Yeah, yeah that was him," Daniel agreed, "Do you, uh, do you know him?"

"I used to, his name's Johnny Lawrence," Cass replied, sounding slight sad, before pulling into the school carpark, "Welcome to Hell."

Daniel laughed, taking in as much as he could of his new high school while Cass found them a place to park. Pulling into an empty spot, she stopped the engine, grabbed her sunglasses and got out, Daniel clambered out as she grabbed her bag from the bed, slinging it over one shoulder and locking the car. 

"Follow me, young Padawan," she teased him, heading towards the school. 

"You know Star Wars?" he asked with an excited grin. 

"Of course I do, I'm not a monster," she answered, leading him to reception and waiting outside while he found out his timetable and locker number. 

As she waited, a familiar group of teenagers entered the school. Grey eyes met hazel, and Cass knew that Bobby realised she had found out about the beach incident, his shoulders tensed slightly, his gaze flickered to Johnny before landing on her. 'Later' he mouthed, and followed the boys to their lockers. 

Daniel came back out from reception with a printed sheet of his timetable. Cas took it from him, mentally comparing his timetable to her own, while Daniel watched in amusement. 

"Do you have a pen?" she asker, brow furrowed in concentration. 

Pulling one out of his jeans pocket, he silently handed it over, watching in curiosity as she started marking different symbols next to different periods. She took one last look at it, make sure she was right, before handing it back to him along with his pen. 

"The ones with stars are classes we have together," she told him, gently leading him through the corridors having also seen his locker number, "Circles are classes you have with Bobby and the sad faces are classes you have with Johnny or his other friends."

"This is amazing, thank you!" Daniel said in awe, taking in his new updated timetable as he followed Cass, "How do you know their timetables?"

"Bobby is one of my best friends," she replied with a shrug, pulling Daniel out of the way of a group as they rounded the corner as he folded his timetable and put it into his jeans pocket, "And Johnny used to be, and Bobby bitches about what goes on in his various classes."

"At least I have a heads-up for when I'll see those jerks again," Daniel joked, Cass opened her locker and hit the one on the left, which Daniel realised was his, "There's one really important thing I need to know before this friendship goes any further, is it a requirement to jump into murky pools to be your friend?"

Cass burst into laughter, dropping some of her books which she had been putting into her locker, Daniel watcher her with a grin, pleased to have made her laugh after seeing how weary she had been when he had told her what had with Johnny. 

"Is he bothering you?" Johnny asked from behind Cass, startling her. 

"Jesus Christ, Lawrence!" she exclaimed, whacking his arm, "Do I need to get you a bell?"

Johnny's gaze switched to her, a soft fond smile gracing his face for a second, before disappearing into a smirk when he noticed how uncomfortable Daniel was. 

"'Cause if he is bothering you, I'll happily help you out," he told her, not taking his eyes off of Daniel until he was shoved, stumbling back a step. 

"No, he's not bothering me," Cass told him, putting herself between him and Daniel, "It's called being nice, Johnny, you should try it sometime."

Daniel just barely managed to pass his laugh off as a cough, blue eyes flickered over to him before once again focusing on Cass. 

"I'm nice!" Johnny defended himself.

"Oh yeah, you were real nice to Daniel at the beach party!" she retorted, Johnny winced and brought his hand up to sheepishly rub at the back of his neck, "If I ever hear about you fighting Daniel again, I'm putting you on your arse, Lawrence."

Johnny nodded sheepishly, Cass nodded in satisfaction, turned on her heel and looped her arm with Daniel's leading him towards his first class. Johnny felt a small smile tugging at his lips as he watched her walk away, she was one of the only people he knew who would call him out if he was being a jerk. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Best of luck in your first class," Cass encouraged Daniel, having helped him find his first class.

"Thanks for helping me find my way to class, Cass," Daniel replied with a grin. 

A tall guy with wavy brown hair walked past them, heading into the class when Cass grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Surfer, this is Daniel," she introduced them, "Daniel this is Will, he's in a few of the classes you'd have with Johnny and his friends. Will be nice to Daniel and act as a buffer."

"Will do, Runt," he answered in a half-Australian, half-Californian accent, "Nice to meet you Dan."

"See you later, Daniel," she waved goodbye, "See you at try-outs, Wallaby."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cass stretched out over the back of her chair, letting out a content sigh as her spine cracked in just the right place, ignoring the disgusted looks the other girls were throwing her. A red jacket landed on the seat next to her. 

"Sounded satisfying," Johnny commented, sitting next to her in what was normally Bobby's seat. 

"What are you doing, Lawrence?" she asked warily, as he stretched his long legs out in front of him.

"Sitting," he replied with a grin, she let out a groan, face-palming, and his grin widened.

"Johnny, what do you want?" she asked, grey eyed meeting blue.

"Can't a guy just sit with his friend?" he replied innocently, when she raised an eyebrow at him, "Alright, I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the beach."

"You mean how you gave the new guy a black eye?" she asked, causing him to wince again.

"How about I tell you my side?" he suggested gently.

"You and Bobby can fill me in after school," Cass agreed, "On one condition."

"Name it," he quickly agreed.

"Leave Daniel, and don't start anymore fights," she told him.

"I'll do my best, Pup," Johnny agreed with a smile, shaking her hand.

Bobby walked in, followed by the teacher, he shot Cass a confused look which she answered with a shrug. With a shrug, he sat in Johnny's empty seat next to Tommy. 

"Hey Cass," Johnny whispered as they were told to answer the questions at the end of the chapter, "Why did you ask what I was doing sitting next to you?"

"'Cause we haven't talked in months," she replied, uncapping a highlighter as she went through the chapter, highlighting answers to the questions.

"What do you mean we haven't talked in months?" he hissed in disbelief, Cass glanced up checking to see if the teacher had reacted, to no-one's surprise he was having a nap.

"We didn't talk over the summer," she explained around the pen in her mouth, "And we didn't talk in the two months before summer."

Johnny was suspiciously quiet for several moments, after answering the first two end of chapter questions Cass glanced up at him. His brows were furrowed in the way they did when he was thinking carefully about something. A paper ball landed on her table, she unraveled it, immediately recognising Bobby's surprisingly elegant handwriting, _'What did you do to Johnny? He's got his thinking face on.' _She snorted, scribbling a reply of _'Told him we haven't talked in months, I think it broke him.' _Glancing up to make sure their teacher was still asleep, before throwing the paper at Bobby's head.____

____"Forgot you had good aim," Johnny finally broke his silence, "And I didn't realise I hadn't been talking to you recently, I'm really sorry about that."_ _ _ _

____"It's okay, Johnny," Cass reassure him, "Sometimes people just drift apart."_ _ _ _

____"No it's not, Cass," he disagreed, "You willing to still be friends with this jerk?"_ _ _ _

____Smiling softly at him, Johnny shot her his most charming smile._ _ _ _

____"I never stopped being your friend," she murmured, as their History teacher woke up._ _ _ _

____Johnny beamed, zoning out for the rest of the class. Whenever the teacher asked him a question, Cass would kick his leg and turn her book so Johnny could see the correct answer._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____\-----------------------------------------------------------------------_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Before Cass could get out of her seat, Johnny had already picked up both their bags, slinging one over each shoulder. They easily fell in step together, and were joined by Bobby and Tommy._ _ _ _

____"Don't you have biology, Johnny?" Bobby pointed out, as they walked towards Physics._ _ _ _

____"So what? I'll just be a few minutes late," Johnny replied nonchalant, Tommy broke away from them to head off to Chemistry._ _ _ _

____Bobby shared a confused look with Cas, when Johnny walked into Physics with them, putting Cass' bag down on the bench Bobby sat down at._ _ _ _

____"So, I'll see you after school?" Johnny asked Cass, slightly unsure of himself._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, you and Bobby can come over, Cass answered._ _ _ _

____"Soccer tryouts are after school," Bobby reminded them._ _ _ _

____"That's perfect!" she exclaimed, "A friend of mine is trying out, figured I'd go and support him."_ _ _ _

____Johnny nodded with a soft smile, and left, going to Biology. Taking out her Physics book and putting it between the two of them, ignoring Bobby's amused gaze as she pretended to organize herself for the class._ _ _ _

____"So, as soon as Ali's out of the picture, you're just going to swoop in," he teased her, barely dodging her playful swipe at him._ _ _ _

____"He came up to me at my locker when I was talking to the new guy, Daniel," she explained, "Asked if he was bothering me."_ _ _ _

____A look of understanding crossed Bobby's face._ _ _ _

____"What?" she asked, knowing that he knew something._ _ _ _

____When he shook his head with a faint smile, started poking his arm, ribs, face, chanting 'Tell me!'_ _ _ _

____"Fine!" Bobby gave in, in amusement, "When you hear our beach story, it'll make sense to you."_ _ _ _

____Cass nodded, satisfied with that and they both turned their attention to the class as the teacher entered._ _ _ _


End file.
